2018 Relief Pitcher Rankings: Top 40

We wrap up each week of positional coverage with our 2018 rankings. In addition to the rankings we will pose a number of questions to our panel covering topics such as reaches and targets, players to avoid and late round impact players.

Players marked N/R were not ranked inside the top 40 by that particular person. If you feel we overlooked someone or would like to debate a player’s ranking, feel free to do so in the comment section below.

Rank

Player

Team

Jim

Josh

Mike S

Dan

Kenny

Kevin

Mike L

1

Kenley Jansen

Dodgers

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

Craig Kimbrel

Red Sox

2

2

2

2

2

3

2

3

Aroldis Chapman

Yankees

3

3

3

3

5

2

3

4

Roberto Osuna

Blue Jays

6

4

6

4

9

5

6

5

Ken Giles

Astros

4

8

5

6

7

6

11

6

Felipe Rivero

Pirates

7

6

8

8

4

14

4

7

Corey Knebel

Brewers

8

9

4

7

10

11

5

8

Raisel Iglesias

Reds

9

7

11

10

8

8

7

9

Edwin Diaz

Mariners

12

5

7

5

11

12

9

10

Cody Allen

Indians

10

13

9

12

3

7

10

11

Wade Davis

Rockies

5

14

15

9

6

9

13

12

Brad Hand

Padres

11

17

16

11

16

4

8

13

Sean Doolittle

Nationals

18

11

10

18

12

16

16

14

Alex Colome

Rays

13

12

12

13

20

19

21

15

Andrew Miller

Indians

16

19

17

16

15

24

12

16

Mark Melancon

Giants

20

10

13

27

14

10

25

17

Hector Neris

Phillies

21

15

18

14

23

18

17

18

Arodys Vizcaino

Braves

19

22

22

19

19

15

18

19

Archie Bradle

Diamondbacks

14

24

28

17

13

20

23

20

Jeurys Familia

Mets

17

18

19

20

17

13

39

21

Brandon Morrow

Cubs

27

16

23

15

18

26

20

22

Brad Brach

Orioles

15

27

20

24

24

29

15

23

Kelvin Herrera

Royals

33

20

14

21

27

22

19

24

Blake Theinen

Athletics

29

21

21

22

25

17

24

25

Blake Parker

Angels

28

31

30

23

22

21

14

26

Dellin Betances

Yankees

26

25

25

28

36

25

33

27

Shane Greene

Tigers

30

30

27

36

35

23

22

28

Greg Holland

Free Agent

35

26

24

32

21

40

29

29

Brad Peacock

Astros

22

N/R

29

29

26

31

27

30

Addison Reed

Twins

25

23

40

37

33

38

30

31

Luke Gregerson

Cardinals

N/R

38

38

26

29

27

36

32

David Robertson

Yankees

38

32

N/R

30

31

35

31

33

Brad Ziegler

Marlins

32

34

35

35

38

28

N/R

34

Fernando Rodney

Twins

40

N/R

32

33

30

32

N/R

35

C.J. Edwards

Cubs

34

36

39

N/R

32

30

N/R

36

Zach Britton

Orioles

N/R

29

36

40

40

N/R

35

37

Alex Claudio

Rangers

31

N/R

38

34

28

N/R

N/R

38

Kyle Barraclough

Marlins

24

40

34

N/R

N/R

N/R

34

39

A.J. Ramos

Mets

N/R

N/R

33

N/R

34

33

38

40

Chris Devinski

Astros

39

N/R

N/R

38

37

N/R

26

Honorable Mentions

Cam Bedrosian

Angels

37

N/R

31

39

39

N/R

N/R

Nate Jones

White Sox

36

38

N/R

N/R

N/R

37

N/R

Are there any closers worth reaching 1 or 2 roundsearly for outside of Jansen?

Kevin: You still need saves, and there are some nice strikeout closers available. But you should never reach early for closers.

Jim: I do like Giles, Kimbrel and Chapman, but the lack of track record for Giles, metrics decline for Chapman, and similar issues for Kimbrel before his 2017 bounceback – I don’t see the level of dependability from that top-tier as I did three years ago. I’ll reach for Jansen, but let ADP dictate where the rest fall.

Kenny: With the philosophy I tend to use on draft day I don’t think you can ever “reach” for a reliever – Jansen being the obvious exception here. Relievers come and go at such a steady pace, I don’t see the risk of passing up a SP or a position player to nab a RP ahead of their ADP.

Dan: If it’s a shallow league (12 or smaller), no. If it’s deeper I’ll reach for pitchers secure in their in the mid-tiers like Rivero, Davis, or Hand.

Josh: The lone skill set I look for in a Closer is the job. This thought process typically lends me to picking up the scraps. I will reach if the draft dictates, otherwise I’m more than comfortable waiting until the later 3rd of the draft.

Mike S: Chapman feels a bit like Kimbrel did last year. He still throws as hard as ever and yes he took his lumps for a bit but was back to his other-worldly ways in the playoffs. Champan’s ADP is 20-30 spots behind Kimbrel and Jansen and he’s still likely in the same tier. This is potentially a huge value.

Which closer(s) do you plan on avoiding in the draft?

Kevin: There are always closers whose jobs seem less secure than others: Gregerson, Morrow, Parker, Doolittle, Claudio aren’t sure things. If you’re in standard 5×5 leagues, they take a hit.

Jim: Corey Knebel and his walk issues can go elsewhere, as can the ageless wild wonder Fernando Rodney. I will not be drafting closers from Oakland, Texas or San Francisco, and you can probably add St Louis if a decision isn’t made on Lyon/Gregerson by draft time. As for the Angels, Marlins and Cubs, I’ll target the setup man for each team.

Kenny: Corey Knebel seems like the obvious regression candidate heading into this season, based on his one season of success and his whopping 76 appearances last year, but I’m avoiding Roberto Osuna this year. If not for what the Rays have been doing lately the Blue Jays could be the worst team in the AL East and that won’t equal a lot of save chances. With a save percentage of less than 85% in his career he’s not a guy I want to rely on in any RP situation.

Josh: I’m typically out of the Top level talent to begin with, but Corey Knebel. 40 IP jump from 2016 makes me take a second look. The 4.7 BB/9 makes him very easy to pass on as the 3rd Closer overall in ADP.

Mike S: I’ll be avoiding Alex Colome. I was high on him coming into last year and he was terrible. He got decent results because of a high save total but he pitched poorly and the underlying numbers were bad as well. This is a solid stay away for me.

Which closer (if any) do you planon owning the most stock of?

Kevin: I’m a fan of Hand this year. And if everyone wants to avoid Davis simply because he’s in Colorado, I could end up with a lot of his stock.

Jim: Jansen will be a top priority in roto leagues. After that I see Archie Bradley and Brad Hand being on a lot of my teams based on early rankings – I see both as being incredibly undervalued.

Kenny: As I mentioned under the first question, I don’t put too much stock into my RP core. There are so many injuries during the year, poor performances, hot hands in the ‘pen that the closing duties can be shuffled a handful of times throughout the course of the season on any given team. If I had eight different RP slots across two or three teams, there’s a real chance I own eight different guys.

Dan: Osuna and Diaz reasonable ADP for closers ranked just below the top tier.

Josh: With my bargain bin approach I’ve found Mark Melancon to be a desirable target. Currently the 18th RP in ADP, Melancon offers a certain level of security that few have. Good SP and middle of the road offense provides the perfect recipe for 40 Saves.

Mike S: I actually like quite a few relievers this year and tend to take whichever value falls to me during the draft. Two names seem to end up on lots of my mock and early teams though. Mark Melancon and Kelvin Herrera. I’m not high on Melancon but his cost has been close to free. I’m actually excited about and targeting Herrera as I still think there’s near elite potential there.

Top reliever that could be closing by midseason? (or sooner)

Kevin: With Britton out, Brach seems the likely choice to fill in. But don’t forget about Mychal Givens. Brach’s in his last year and could be traded. Givens still makes my sleeper list for one more season.

Kenny: AJ Ramos is going to be in a closer role for the Mets at some fashion prior to midseason. That could be caused by injury to Familia, but I wouldn’t’ be shocked if once he took the reigns as closer that Ramos would relinquish them. They each have some control issues, but I think Ramos is the better arm. I think we also see Tyler Lyons closing in St. Louis prior to midseason if the Cardinals decide to roll with Gregerson as their 9th inning option.

Dan: Addison Reed is the obvious answer for me (not a Rodney fan). Tyler Lyons is another to watch provided he doesn’t break camp with the closer gig..

Josh: There’s a greater than 50% chance that half of this Top 25 List will lose their jobs. For a full breakdown of potential pitfalls I will be covering this in a future article.

Mike S: I don’t have as many guys like this as I normally do. I suppose I still like Kyle Barraclough best for this. He lost a bit on his velocity and K rate in 2017 but he still profiles much more like a traditional closer than Brad Ziegler does.

*****

For those in deeper and larger leagues, there were a dozen players that were ranked that did not appear in the above table. Chad Green, Keone Kela and Brad Boxberger appeared on 2 of 7 rankings. Tyler Lyons, Josh Hader, Liam Hendricks, Joakim Soria, Seung-Hwan Oh, Ryan Madson, Mychal Givens and Pat Neshek all appeared on one set of rankings.